Victimization of college students from online campus loans in mainland China

Abstract

Recently, there have been a series of scandals about college students who have fallen rapidly into debt, with some cases even leading to suicide. The issue of campus loans has again driven the shady and underground lending business into the public spotlight and has drawn tremendous attention throughout China. Despite increased public awareness on the societal and personal harm of campus loans, this category of offenses has received less attention compared to other types of violence issues in colleges. Conventional violent crimes in schools are embedded in public awareness, and is often seen as the most serious threat on campus. However, with the popularity of P2P lending on campus in recent years, the chance of becoming a victim of a financial trap set by loan sharks is much higher nowadays. In addition to causing individual harm, students who rack up loan shark debts also spread these issues to their families and social relationships. This study will attempt to shed light on the process of victimization of financial fraud by loan sharks. A hierarchy of victimization framework is proposed to fully understand the relationships between online lenders and the characteristics of a student population who are easily targeted. In addition, the concepts of Primary and Secondary Victimization will be used to explain the trauma that students experience after falling victim to online lenders on campus.